Fire and Night
by Lightgirl1999
Summary: Aelin has figured out a way to escape Maeve. But she doesn't know exactly where her way out will leave her. On her way she will find friends, allies and possibly the salvation of her world.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Sarah J. Maas.**

Chapter 1

The wind whipped around her as she fell, though it wasn't exactly like falling in the real world, there didn't seem to be any direction, no down, up, or sideways. Just the sensation of movement and _so much wind._ Aelin felt as though it was filling her lungs without her consent and pulling her already torn skin further off her bones. She could see nothing and simply didn't have the energy to conjure any fire to even try.

Then suddenly the wind stopped, and she hit the ground.

Meeting with the other high lords was always… an interesting experience. With so many over inflated egos in one room there was a tendency towards tense moments. But after the war, well relations once thought to have been irrevocably broken were, not healed but tentatively being breached for the good of Prythian .

" _Feyre Darling, do pay attention. Can't you see these very important fools are trying to bicker."_

Glancing at Rhys I gave him my best glare, only receiving a deadpan look in response.

"We are open to attack, we don't know enough about the larger continent to say they will not try to invade while we are weakened! As a whole we need to strengthen defenses and send forces out to corral the mortal lands and get a feel for the temperament of the continent." Eris, eldest son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court was saying.

"The mortal lands don't need force applied to them, they need aide! Many of them struggle to survive and have lived in fear of the fae." Was Cassian's reply "The wall divided them from us and segregation brings fear and eventually hatred. Not to mention there's rebuilding to do here, we can't leave our people in demolished cities and without homes, especially when many have recently lost loved ones. No, our focus needs to be applied inwards first."

"I agree, we cannot expect our troops to continue with the rigor necessary for victory when they know the state their living families have been left in. Our country needs time to lick its wounds before-"

All of a sudden, there was a slight shift, a strong magic one Feyre had never felt before coming out of nowhere and filling the room. Conversation stopped dead as all the attention drew to this unexplained power. Rhys shifted closer to her and their Court started to move in their direction. Before they could reach them a dark hole opened up in the air and spit out a body wrapped in chains, disappearing immediately and taking the power with it.

"Az."

The shadow singer allowed his shadows to creep up towards the body, running over it and over it. Before they returned to him and he gasped.

"She's _alive."_

There was a flurry of movement, of gasps and stumbles, because it was hard to believe that the body could still hold a soul, that it hadn't flown out the torn seams, away from the undoubtedly unbearable pain.

Thesan, had his moment of shock while he was running to help her. Calling for help as he ran, his hands hovering over the body trying to find somewhere to hold to flip her on her back. Through the blood and gore it was almost impossible to distinguish limbs let alone a safe spot to hold. Eventually he just had to do it in the gentlest way possible and try to ignore the wounds. His hissed as he did it though, quickly drawing his hands away once she was flipped.

"Iron, someone's wrapped her in _iron._ " And looking at her face there was a gorgeous mask, intricate and detailed, tiny suns for eyes, spilling rays down onto the cheeks, surrounded by fire. Beautiful, but cruel and made of iron. And if this woman was fae, which she must have been to survive to this point, that mask was lowering her chance at life by the second.

So Feyre shook off her shock and went to help in whatever way she could, Rhys moving with her.

The next time Aelin opened her eyes, she saw light. She was lying in a bed and was wrapped in so many bandages she could hardly move. But the fact that the pain was sharp, that she could feel all of it meant that she was healing. The iron was gone.

She wanted to weep.

How cruel Maeve was, allowing her to heal every day. Only to start all over again.

And now, the added comfort of the bed, the beautiful surroundings, and the _sun, oh gods the sun._ She wanted to cry out for the days when she took the sun for granted, its light and warmth, the strength it gave her. She didn't even know how long it had been since she'd felt the beams on her face.

"I'd ask what's hurting but I imagine the answer would be 'everything'" A male with warm skin and kind eyes asked as he moved into her line of vision.

"Fuck you"

"Excuse me? I just saved your life."

Her throat, dry and hoarse from screaming did not want to cooperate. "Y… You" Coughing only aggravated her wounds, the man brought a cup with water to her lips.

"Here, you need to drink"

Glancing at him, Aelin figured that poison would be an easy end at this point and drank.

"There, now what were you going to say, something about me?"

"You think this is any sort of life?"

He looked taken aback, "Well I worked pretty hard to save it, so once you recover I imagine it will be."

She did her best to snarl, "Just to do it all again tomorrow right."

He froze. "You mean-"

The door opened softly and a female stepped in.

"Oh good, you're awake, how are you feeling?"

In response Aelin shut her eyes, "Where am I?"

There was a pause before the man spoke, "The Dawn Court, my home. I am High Lord here"

The Dawn Court?

"And I'm Feyre, High Lady of the Night Court. My mate will be here in a moment."

All of a sudden it all came rushing back, the Wyrdmarks, the wind and the landing, which must have made her lose consciousness. She started to laugh. She'd done it, she'd made it out.

"Well I'm glad to see our living dead in such high spirits."

Glancing over she met the eyes of the most beautiful male she'd ever seen. Surpassing even Fenrys. But it was less the beauty and more the power she was concerned with, especially the prodding in her head, the only part of herself still her own.

She let out her most vicious snarl and stood up.

"Get the hell out of my head!"

She let loose a wall of fire, shielding her mind and burning his power back.

Aelin crouched, knowing full well she could not properly defend herself in this state, but not making it this far to go down without a fight.

But the male and the others in the room just stood there, staring.

' _She just burned my magic, I had to cut it off before she followed it back to me… I don't know who she is but she's very, very dangerous.'_

' _Yeah I got that, she's looking like she wants to take us all on, when her bones were literally ripped out of her, broken and put back inside of her yesterday.'_ Rhys and Feyre looked at each other and deciding it was time to call in reinforcements.

Hey guys! after a very long hiatus I'm back. please feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you liked my story. I plan on continuing if I get a good response though I don't know how often I will be updating seeing as school's just started back up. Anyway I hope you have a really great day!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Though I wish I was talented enough to create the characters, they belong solely to the brilliance that is Sarah J Maas.**

Chapter 2

"She's healing at a… unprecedented rate" Thesan said. "I'm good but honestly I'm not this good."

It had been a week since the woman had appeared, and four days since the first time she'd woken. She seemed to have exerted herself too much and her body have forcefully shut down. Abruptly. Feyre had caught her and Rhys had used his magic to lift her back onto the bed, not wanting his mate that close to the woman, even if she was unconscious.

Since then her body seemed to put itself into a deep sleep, allowing for her to heal. Her bones were knitting back together, and her skin, or the scraps still left, were becoming a full shell again. Through the new wounds the gathered fae could see older scars, ones that indicated a lifetime of battles.

But perhaps the most interesting thing was, even in sleep, the High Lord and Lady of the night court could not gain access to the strange woman's mind. The fire that had protected her while awake seemed to double its efforts in unconsciousness.

"I think just about everything about this woman is unprecedented" Rhys chuckled.

* * *

Another three days passed like this, the woman continuing to sleep, the Inner Circle as well as members of other courts taking shifts to watch for any signs of waking, but she slept on.

* * *

Slowly consciousness returned to Aelin, as well as her recollection of the past few… well however long she'd been in Maeve's clutches. Her most recent fainting spell also rushed back in a flurry of embarrassment.

She seemed to be unharmed though, certainly better than when she'd gotten here. She slowly took stock of her surroundings without opening her eyes, she was on a bed, covered with a blanket, and she could feel warmth on her face. So daytime, possibly the same room.

There was at least one other person in the room with her, and more in the hall. By the scent, it wasn't the healer from before, or the Night Couple. The ones in the hall were most likely guards, through their breathing she could tell that to the left the hallway ended, to the right they continued at regular intervals. If she had to escape at least she had a direction to start in.

Maybe she wouldn't have to run though, she wasn't in great shape to be fighting. Her best hope was to talk her way out of here and then figure out how the hell to get back home.

The other body in the room, male and large at that, stood up suddenly.

"Are you ever going to actually open your eyes? Or are you just gonna keep pretending to be asleep?" a laughing voice said.

' _Guess the gigs_ _up_ ' with that thought Aelin opened her eyes and zeroed in on the smirking male. He faltered for just a moment at her focus, but just for a moment.

Shooting him a smirk of her own, Aelin sat up. "Usually, people introduce themselves when they meet a stunning lady".

The male laughed out loud, "I'm Cassian, and no offence but this isn't really the usual way I meet stunning ladies" He winked and sauntered closer to the bed.

He was almost as big as Rowan, and obviously a warrior. The way he moved had a touch of arrogance and grace that only came when you knew you could defend yourself. His hazel eyes were assessing her, surprisingly as though she was a threat. Not a big one, but the Night Couple must have tipped him off about something. The most unusual thing about him though, were the giant… bat wings attached to his back.

"What's a girl got to do to get some food around here?" She really was ravenous, and they seemed to want to keep her alive.

He chuckled and the door opened, servants bringing in a platter, followed by the Night Couple, and a smattering of others. The healer stepped out from the crowd.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic, I've never been better." She deadpanned at him. She knew she looked terrible, and honestly she wanted the crowd that had gathered to take a step back.

"I don't need sass. Though you seem to be in better spirits than the last time you were awake so, that's something," turning towards the servants he beckoned them forward, "You need to eat."

She looked at the platter, there was a lot of items she'd never seen before, but she knew she couldn't keep any of it down anyway.

"Yeah, do you have any broth or anything?"

A man with blonde hair stepped forward, "You'll eat what you're given, you are in no place to be making requests" he sneered.

Aelin took him in with a dead gaze, then allowed her tried and true smirk, the one that drove males insane, to creep onto her face, "Obviously, you've never been starved. I'll eat this, but it's coming right back up if I do. Hopefully your nice shiny boots will be near if that happens."

He opened his mouth to retort, but the fae she'd woken to started laughing again, and many of the others in the crowd joined him. It seemed this particular male wasn't very well liked.

The male half of the Night Couple stepped forward next, "We'll get you something light," He chuckled "After that, would you be up for a few questions?"

Looking at the crowd around her, she doubted there was much of a choice.

* * *

The woman ate half the bowl, setting the rest aside. Knowing how starvation worked, Feyre hoped that even that amount would stay down. Thesan had been giving the girl some form of sustenance, but it was done through magic so eating normally was not something her body would be used to at the moment.

She seemed to be handling it fairly well though, as she turned to the group. It was mostly made up of High Lords, large aggressive males, and in such a small room the power of those assembled was palpable.

It would be intimidating for anyone to have that power's attention placed solely on them, especially when they were as badly hurt as the girl still was.

She seemed completely unfazed.

She looked around the group as though she was the one in charge, almost like a queen holding court. And in that moment, Feyre watched as the girl raised one eyebrow, and gracefully motioned with her hand at those around her,

"Please, be seated" and smirked.

Feyre decided she liked this woman then and there.


End file.
